Inmates who have been of good behavior and have met certain criteria have opportunities to participate in inmate work crews, work release, inmate helper programs, and in-house programs. During the past decade, inmates have provided over one-quarter million dollars’ worth of labor to non-profit agencies in projects such as cemetery clean up, brush cutting, painting, roadside cleanup, and more. Inmates have helped restore buildings such as the Curran Homestead, the Bangor Historical Society, Eastern Area Agency on Aging, Boy Scouts of America (Camp Roosevelt), libraries, schools, and fire departments.

Education Program

The Education Program currently makes roadside signs at reduced rates to help communities mark their roads in compliance with the 911 standards. For more information about our 911 signs, please go to our TRIAD page.

Through a partnership with Bangor Adult Education, teachers at the jail help inmates achieve their GED through the Plato learning system. Sixteen inmates earned their GED while incarcerated at PCJ during 2012.

The Penobscot County Jail was the recipient of the Governors service Award, Recognizing thousands of hours of inmate labor to the community. Since 1989 the jail has completed an Alternative Sentencing Program where inmates provide community services for reduced sentences. Over 133,000 hours of inmate labor has resulted in this program yielding over $1,197,717.43 savings to the community.

The Sheriff has two inmate work crews that provide free labor to municipalities and non-profit agencies in Penobscot County. In addition inmate helpers work in the jail providing for cleaning, sewing, laundry, etc. These programs resulted in over 56,000 hours of free labor to the taxpayer ($421,110.00) in 2012. Requests by municipalities and non-profit agencies can be directed to Programs Supervisor-Sgt. Laura Lebreton 947-4585. This schedule fills quickly.